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I am a residential service tech with more than 7 years in the field. I do not mind schooling (went to four years of apprenticeship, NATE, journeyman licence, CFC, and some others) nor do I mind long hours, on call duty, horrible traffic, (DC area) or mean customers.

What bothers me is how seasonal this field is, and sometimes you get less than 40 hours a week. And at the end of the year you realize you didn't make what you wanted to make (especially when you're trying to support a family). So I've decided to break into a different field. Would you recommend commerical service or refrigeration?

I'm not very familiar with either field - their hours, seasonality, overtime?, etc. I assume that refrigeration might be more steady year-round work, but maybe not. If any of you fellows has any insight or advice, I'd appreciate it.

I have done commercial refrigeration and saw a lot of slow time. I have been doing commercial/industrial A/C service for the past 10 years and love it.We get a little slow in October but then winter inpections start and we are busy until the warmer months roll around.My average hours are 53/wk.When applying for a job ask what they do when work gets slow, what their techs average hours are.Good luck.

I'm in a similiar boat... The company I work for now doesn't allow us to dip below 40 a week, BUT it is no guarentee (sp?)... I was thinking about going into electrical or plumbing in addition to HVACR... Kinda expand my horizons, keep me busy... I've done both... Are there any companies out there that are interested in that type of technician?

Hey petaco have you considered industrial HVAC ?
I also work in the DC area. The cpompany that I work for is hiring now. If you would be interested reply here and I will give you contact info. Oh by the way we are guarenteed 40 hours on our paycheck even if we only acctually work 30. It kinda makes it nice not having to worry about getting your hours in.